The Make Believe Wedding

Montana Born Brides Book 9

by Sarah Mayberry

Everyone in Marietta, Montana, is in love and getting married – at least that’s the way it feels to Andie Bennett the night of the Valentine’s Ball. As she watches the man she’s loved from afar for half her life dance with another woman, Andie allows herself a moment of sheer fantasy as she fills out a stray entry form for the Great Wedding Giveaway. Andie channels years of fantasy and yearning for Heath McGregor onto the page, but she never intends to actually enter the Giveaway. Only a crazy woman would do that. But fate has other ideas….

When Heath learns he and Andie are last minute finalists in the Great Wedding Giveaway, he’s completely baffled. How on earth could anyone make such a ridiculous mistake? When it becomes clear that Andie will be humiliated if the slip-up becomes public, Heath does what any good friend would – he suggests they pretend the engagement is real until the Giveaway is over and then quietly “break up” when no one is paying any attention. It’s the perfect solution, except Heath very quickly realises that pretending Andie is his is no hardship at all. In fact, it may just be the best thing that’s ever happened to him…

Once again I joined a series in the middle … do you guys sense a theme?  This time though I feel that maybe I missed out on some of the nuances that make this series so great.  There were relationships and moments that probably would have been better appreciated if I had a grasp of their history.  But the main story itself was definitely complete and totally enjoyable.

I loved Heath and Andie together.  The idea of the friends to lovers storyline has always been one of my favorites and this one has a little Ugly Duckling thrown in just to make me extra happy.  The premise might seem a little far-fetched, but Mayberry makes it work.  And once the two are a couple for real, it is wonderful. 

At about 150 pages, The Make Believe Wedding is a little more than novella length but it reads super-fast.   With a years-long friendship to guide them, the interactions between Heath and Andie are both fun and sweet.  Heath is strong and caring, but just hasn’t found the right woman yet.  When he realizes that Andie has gotten herself into an embarrassing situation, he’s got a big enough heart that he’s willing to help her out.  But it might lead to more than he expected. 

Andie is convinced she’s the woman that Heath needs and has been right in front of him forever.  Logically she knows that if he wanted her romantically he would have done something by now but the brain and the heart are not always connected.  There are times when her feelings for Heath will break your heart but it is well worth it to get to their HEA. 

There are a lot of secondary characters that I feel like I would know more about if I’d read the other stories.  It wasn’t that big a deal but I think I would have enjoyed having them around a little more if I’d been more informed.  Overall though it didn’t hurt the main plot and was just a minor irritant. 

Full of angst and warmth, The Make Believe Wedding will grab your heart and hold on until the last page.